boot tracks.”
Ross looked at me as though I wasn't the host. “Hello, it's winter.”
Sarah nodded. “We kept an extra pair of boots by the door for running outside in this weather. Anyone could have worn those outside with Drake. Or Drake could have worn them himself.”
Norman whimpered by the door, and I let him outside as the winter winds invaded the room. “But he didn't strangle himself, so someone went outside with Drake.”
I kept an eye on the police as they cordoned off part of the street. Santa would have to resort to desperate measures to call on my house tonight. The snow around the sleigh had been flattened in some places by their boots. I could still see the shine of the block of ice from the moon's glow, though soon no one would be able to trace the footprints to the Maxwells'.
Norman started to do his business on the sidewalk, but I shooed him to the bank of snow just beyond the hedge. I didn't want any yellow ice on my walk to slip and fall on in the morning. Just the thing to be sued for—a neighbor slipping on your dog's pee. Norman jaundiced the front lawn and trotted back to the front door through my legs. He didn't want to miss a moment of drama.
He curled up on the kitchen floor as I slipped him a treat. I returned to my guests and laid a hand on James's shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
The blanket was wet and clammy. I wiped my hand on the back of the sofa and sat down again, facing the group of people. I figured since their Christmas was already ruined that I didn't have to worry too much about tact. “You know it just seems very convenient about the sleigh being frozen in ice. Most of the rest of the yard is still snow.”
Ross shrugged and went back to pulling the marshmallows from his hot chocolate. Ernie continued his vigil of Sarah, as she wept for her dead husband. James seemed to be the only one paying attention to my soliloquy.
“If we thought the ice might not be an accident, it might explain a few things which have been puzzling me. Like Norman's reaction to the murder.”
Ross looked up at me. “Do you have cable?”
I squinted my eyes at him to make sure he was human. “Yeah, I do. In the living room. As I was saying, Norman didn't bark when the killer took Drake out to the sleigh. I was confused about that for a while. He'd been barking at Ross, and he wouldn't really know Sarah or Ernie, so they would get the four tone treatment.”
Sarah looked up. “Maybe he just slept through the whole thing.”
“I don't see how. He knows when Ross gets home and that can't be noisier than carrying someone out to a plastic sleigh and murdering him. Norman doesn't miss much.”
Sarah shivered and I knew it had nothing to do with the freezing temperatures outside.
“The lack of footprints bothered me. At first, I thought that it indicated that someone too light to make tracks had committed the crime, but the ice made me wonder. The killer would want the ice if he planned to use the sleigh to hold the body. That plastic will slide easily in all the snow.”
Ernie stood up. “What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Just that the killer would have to put the body in the sleigh and that the weight of the body and his weight would make the sleigh wobbly, taking time and perhaps making a lot of noise. Ice would make the sleigh stay put.”
“So the killer froze the sleigh into the ice how?”
“Water, maybe a hose or a bucket. Which was it, James?”
The man looked up, eyes vacant. “The hose actually. I made sure the water seeped into the snow.”
“Then you knocked out Drake and took him out to the sleigh to strangle him. You used your blanket to drag him outside so that you wouldn't make prints with his body. The cloth is still wet from where it absorbed the snow.”
Sarah broke into sobs. “Why?”
“I couldn't bear to see you leave town. You're my only daughter. I didn't realize that you'd gone and married him. I wanted to see you with Ernie so you
Ross looked at me as though I wasn't the host. “Hello, it's winter.”
Sarah nodded. “We kept an extra pair of boots by the door for running outside in this weather. Anyone could have worn those outside with Drake. Or Drake could have worn them himself.”
Norman whimpered by the door, and I let him outside as the winter winds invaded the room. “But he didn't strangle himself, so someone went outside with Drake.”
I kept an eye on the police as they cordoned off part of the street. Santa would have to resort to desperate measures to call on my house tonight. The snow around the sleigh had been flattened in some places by their boots. I could still see the shine of the block of ice from the moon's glow, though soon no one would be able to trace the footprints to the Maxwells'.
Norman started to do his business on the sidewalk, but I shooed him to the bank of snow just beyond the hedge. I didn't want any yellow ice on my walk to slip and fall on in the morning. Just the thing to be sued for—a neighbor slipping on your dog's pee. Norman jaundiced the front lawn and trotted back to the front door through my legs. He didn't want to miss a moment of drama.
He curled up on the kitchen floor as I slipped him a treat. I returned to my guests and laid a hand on James's shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
The blanket was wet and clammy. I wiped my hand on the back of the sofa and sat down again, facing the group of people. I figured since their Christmas was already ruined that I didn't have to worry too much about tact. “You know it just seems very convenient about the sleigh being frozen in ice. Most of the rest of the yard is still snow.”
Ross shrugged and went back to pulling the marshmallows from his hot chocolate. Ernie continued his vigil of Sarah, as she wept for her dead husband. James seemed to be the only one paying attention to my soliloquy.
“If we thought the ice might not be an accident, it might explain a few things which have been puzzling me. Like Norman's reaction to the murder.”
Ross looked up at me. “Do you have cable?”
I squinted my eyes at him to make sure he was human. “Yeah, I do. In the living room. As I was saying, Norman didn't bark when the killer took Drake out to the sleigh. I was confused about that for a while. He'd been barking at Ross, and he wouldn't really know Sarah or Ernie, so they would get the four tone treatment.”
Sarah looked up. “Maybe he just slept through the whole thing.”
“I don't see how. He knows when Ross gets home and that can't be noisier than carrying someone out to a plastic sleigh and murdering him. Norman doesn't miss much.”
Sarah shivered and I knew it had nothing to do with the freezing temperatures outside.
“The lack of footprints bothered me. At first, I thought that it indicated that someone too light to make tracks had committed the crime, but the ice made me wonder. The killer would want the ice if he planned to use the sleigh to hold the body. That plastic will slide easily in all the snow.”
Ernie stood up. “What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Just that the killer would have to put the body in the sleigh and that the weight of the body and his weight would make the sleigh wobbly, taking time and perhaps making a lot of noise. Ice would make the sleigh stay put.”
“So the killer froze the sleigh into the ice how?”
“Water, maybe a hose or a bucket. Which was it, James?”
The man looked up, eyes vacant. “The hose actually. I made sure the water seeped into the snow.”
“Then you knocked out Drake and took him out to the sleigh to strangle him. You used your blanket to drag him outside so that you wouldn't make prints with his body. The cloth is still wet from where it absorbed the snow.”
Sarah broke into sobs. “Why?”
“I couldn't bear to see you leave town. You're my only daughter. I didn't realize that you'd gone and married him. I wanted to see you with Ernie so you
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